SFIFF: <i>On Fire</i>

A few minutes before the movie started there was a strange buzzing coming from the front of the theatre and we noticed an older man fiddling with his hearing aid. That's when we took count and realized that out of the 63 people in the audience, 31 of them had gray hair. Granted, this is Berkeley where the population probably indulges in hair-dye less than they do in neighboring cities, but what is it about this movie that brought out the salt-and-pepper crowd out in force? Were they drawn by the memories of youthful longing? Are they followers of the director Claire Simon? Do they want to see a nubile young girl straddling a big horse and bouncing up and down on it for 30 minutes? Do they just like anything French? (And you know what they say about France--the ladies wear no pants). If anyone has a theory we'd be very curious to hear it.